Display case



May 28, 1968 Filed Oct. 18, 1965 FIG. I

A. B. LOWRY DISPLAY CASE FIG. 4

FIG. 6

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 2

FIG. 5

INVENTOR.

A LA N B. LOW RY BY ffiz, (M k May 28, 1968 A. B. LOWRY DISPLAY CASE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 18, 1965 FIG. I0 3"50 as. e

FIG. ll

FIG. I2

INVENTOR.

W W mwww WM? ra United States Patent 3,385,422 DISPLAY CASE Alan B. Lowry, Canton, Mass., assignor to The Gillette Company, Boston, Mass., a corporation of Delaware Filed Oct. 18, 1965, Ser. No. 496,784 10 Claims. (Cl. 206-45.11)

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention comprises a new and improved display case constructed and arranged to be converted into a box or receptacle for a safety razor set or the like when it has served the purpose of displaying its contents on the counter or in the show window of the retail merchant.

The case has tray and cover sections that may be either fixed in open displaying condition or folded into box formation. To this end an important feature of the invention relates to the hinge connections of the two sections. These sections are provided with mating walls oppositely beveled in space areas and joined in these areas by flexible hinge members of adhesive tape forming alinged fold vertices which determine a longitudinal axis common to both sections about which they rotate as they are being closed or opened.

It has been found important to provide, in association with such hinge construction, means for positively interlocking the closed case sections against transverse shifting that might otherwise tend to strain the somewhat delicate hinge members. The desired results are attained by forming the peripheral edges of one section with an upstanding rib shaped to interfit with a shouldered groove or channel in the mating edge of the other section.

Another feature of the invention is to be found in the provision of a transparent rectangular frame cover shaped to fit upon the sections of the case and hold them securely in their open display position. Thus a compact self-contained package is provided that may be conveniently handled as a unit while presenting its contents in full view. The frame is removably secured in position and may be discarded when it is desired to close the cover section of the case.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the case in open display condition,

FIG. 2 is a view in perspective of the closed case,

FIGS. 3 and 5 are fragmentary sectional views on the lines 3-3 and 5-5 of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 4 and 6 are fragmentary sectional views on the lines 44 and 66 of FIG. 2,

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view on the line 7-7 of FIG. 8,

FIG. 8 is a view similar to that of FIG. 1 showing the transparent cover frame in place over a modified open tray and cover sections,

FIG. 9 is a view like that of FIG. 2 of the modified case, and

FIGS. 10, 11 and 12 are, respectively, side, front, and rear elevational views of the display case shown in FIG. 8.

The invention in the form herein shown comprises tray and cover sections of identical rectangularcontour which 3,385,422 Patented May 28, 1968 are preferably molded of opaque or translucent synthetic resin such as polystyrene or the like.

The tray section includes a flat bottom panel 10 having upstanding peripheral walls 11, 12, 13 and 15. As seen in FIG. 1, the lower end wall 11 and the upper end wall 13 interconnect the back Wall 12 and the front wall 15.

The peripheral walls of the tray section are provided with an upstanding rib 16 flush with their inner surfaces. The rib 16 on the upper end wall 13 merges with a flange 14 which extends inwardly and terminates in an arched surface 14'. A transverse partition 17 extends between the front and rear walls and has a recess 17 about midway for receiving the handle of a razor and hold it in place. The front wall 15 is provided with an outwardly beveled recess 18 to receive a latch 27 carried by the cover section (or latch 19 of the cover frame shown in FIG. 8) to bias the latch outwardly into locking engagement with a shoulder recess 18a in the front face of the front wall 15 as illustrated in FIG. 7.

The cover section includes a fiat top panel 20 having upstanding peripheral walls 21, 22, 23 and 24 of which the end wall 21 is the lower as seen in FIG. 1. It connects the back wall 22 and the front wall 24 between which also extends the top end wall 23. All the peripheral walls of the cover section are provided with a shouldered channel or groove 25 shaped to receive the rib 16 of the tray section when the case is closed as seen in FIGS. 4 and 6. This interlocking connection of rib and groove positively prevents lateral shifting in any direction of the closed sections and the development of any stress upon the hinges, as will presently appear.

When used for display purposes the case is opened to the position shown in FIG. 1 with the walls 12 and 22 in continuous contact over their entire exterior surfaces.

The tray and cover sections are hinged together by means of thin, tough flexible tissues or tapes 30 and 30' which extend over the adjacent walls 12 and 22 at spaced locations therealong. The walls have at each hinge location inwardly beveled surfaces 12' and 22 which terminate below the top edges of the walls in somewhat blunted top surfaces. The tapes extend over the tapered surfaces along the inside surfaces of the walls 12 and 22 preferably to the bottom 10 of the tray section and the inner surface of the top panel 20 of the cover section. Various materials may suitably be used for the tape hinges 30, 30', as long as they are strong, thin, and can withstand repeated flexures and are provided on one side with an adhesive which will make a strong, lasting bond with the surfaces of the case sections. A polyester film backing coated with a long aging adhesive such as that sold by 3M Company, St. Paul, Minn. as their No. 850 Polyester Tape has been found to be eminently suitable. It has been found that the bond of the tape to the surfaces of the case sections was improved when such surfaces were highly polished. It should be noted that the thickness of the tape has been highly exaggerated in the drawing for the sake of clarity. The tape is actually about 0.0025 inch thick and is practically invisible when it is of the same color as the case. The areas on the inside surfaces of the walls 12 and 22 where the tape is fastened thereto may be recessed in order to further improve the appearance of the case and to conceal the edges of the tape to prevent accidental contact therewith that may tend to weaken the bond. It will 'be noted from FIGS. 2 and 4 that there will be a slight gap in the areas of the hinges when the case is closed and hence a small area of each of the tapes will be unattached. This serves to reduce stresses in those areas of the tape hinges during use and hence will greatly extend the life thereof. The cover section is provided with a latch 27 identical with the latch 19 of the display frame 28 which cooperates with the beveledsurface .18 and the shouldered recess 18a in the front face of the front wall as illustrated in FIG. 7.

The case shown herein by way of example is particularly suitable for containing a holder for a continuous band razor cartridge indicated in phantom in FIG. 1. To that end a rib 32 is provided on the inside surface of the wall 11 of the tray section for abutting the end of the handle of the holder and a pair of ribs 34 on the inside of the wall 13 to limit endwise movements of the holder.

A cartridge contained in a suitable tray may be retained within the cover section, suitably confined between a transverse wall 26 extending between the front and rear walls 22 and 24 thereof and the end wall 21. The sections of the case may be made of sufficient depth to permit the case to be closed with the cartridge held within the cover or with the cartridge in place within the holder. The arcuate surface 14' of the flange 14 in the tray section makes it impossible to make any contact with the sharpened blade edge of a cartridge assembled in the holder to form therewith a safety razor when such a safety razor is placed in the case and removed therefrom. A holder and cartridge therefor for which the case disclosed herein is particularly adapted is disclosed in Patent No. 3,262,198.

The modified case shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 is provided with a pair of spaced vertically extending ribs 36 for receiving therebetween the end of the handle of the holder in place of the recessed cross rib provided in the case shown in FIG. 1. A pair of low ribs 38 is provided to support the head of the holder above the bottom surface of the case and holes 40 and 41 are provided to drain off any water that may drip off a wet instrument. Obstructing ribs 42 are located between the handle locating ribs 36 and the side walls to prevent the instrument from being incorrectly placed in the case.

A pair of vertical downwardly sloping ribs 44 are provided in the cover section of the case to make frictional engagement with the cartridge container which may suitably be in the form disclosed in commonly owned application Ser. No. 496,630, filed by Rolf A. Samsing on Oct. 15, 1965.

A rectangular cover frame 28 is removably fitted over the open case and latched thereto. This frame may be molded of a transparent plastic resin such as general purpose polystyrene. The frame has a top panel 45. The upper side Wall 46 of the frame is substantially coextensive with the upper end walls 13 and 23 of the open case and the lower side wall 48 is substantially coextensive with the lower end walls 11 and 21. The edges of the side walls 46 and 48 are formed to mate with the rib 16 on the tray section and the groove 25 on the cover section. The rear wall 50 extends behind the front wall 24 of the cover section and is provided with and open window 52 which snugly receives the latch 27 thereof. The front wall 54 of the frame is substantially coextensive with the front wall of the tray section and the lower edge thereof is grooved to receive the upstanding rib 16. A latch 19 is provided on the front wall 54 which may be identical to the latch 27 of the cover section of the case. Internal ribs 56 which extend downwardly from the top panel 45 may be provided to hold in place articles placed in the open cover section such as for example a cartridge container below the ribs 44 and a booklet above. Since the upper part of the cover section does not need to be as deep as the lower part, it may be recessed as shown in FIG. 9 to provide a display panel 58.

It will be appreciated that the open case is thus snugly held by the transparent cover between the rear wall 50 and latch 19 thereof and interfits with peripheral portions of the rib 16 of the tray section and the groove 25 of the cover section to form a convenient and attractive display case. In order to make certain that the case will not swing about its hinges when it is handled roughly, one or more adhesive tape strips 60 may be attached to the undersurfaces of the tray and cover sections as shown in FIG. 3.

When it is desired to convert the display case to act as a box or container for the razor and accessories the frame 28 is removed and discarded, thus permitting the cover section to be swung about an axis determined by the aligned fold vertices of the hinges 3t) and 36' into the closed position of FIG. 2. In this closing movement the upstanding rib 16' becomes interlocked with the groove 25 of the cover section thus relieving the hinges of all transverse strain that might otherwise tend to detach them. In the closing movement the latch 27 of the cover section snaps into the recess 13a of the tray section. The rib and groove connection between the tray and cover sections is interrupted only in the beveled areas of the walls 12 and 22.

The hinges may be formed of thin, adhesive tape which may be of the same color as the case or transparent with the result that they are practically indistinguishable from the adjacent walls of the case sections and invisible in the display complex.

Having thus disclosed my invention and described in detail an illustrative embodiment thereof, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. A convertible display case and box for safety razor sets or the like, comprising rectangular tray and cover sections having rear walls of similar shape constructed and arranged to lie side-by-side in unyielding contact and being oppositely beveled in at least one area, a flexible hinge member enclosing each of said at least one beveled area and binding together the rear walls of the two sections of the case, and a transparent frame overlying and enclosing the opened sections of the case and holding them in that position with the contents of the case in full view.

2. A convertible display case and box for safety razor sets and the like, comprising tray and cover sections having mating upstanding walls oppositely internally beveled in at least one'area, and a flexible hinge member enclosing and folded upon each of said at least one beveled area and secured thereto and providing a hinge axis for the sections coincident with their aligned fold vertices for movements between an open display position wherein both sections are supportable on a flat surface with the hinged walls contacting each other and a closed position wherein the cover section overlies the tray section to form a box.

3. A convertible display case and box for safety razor sets and the like as described in claim 2 having a plurality of beveled areas and associated hinge members, further characterized in that between their beveled areas the mating walls have interlocking rib and groove connections.

4. A convertible display case and box for safety razor sets and the like as described in claim 2, further characterized in that the mating walls have peripheral interlocking rib and groove connections.

5. A convertible display case and box as described in claim 4, further characterized in that each of said at least one beveled area terminates in a rounded point below the level of the edges 0 fthe contacting walls.

6. A convertible display case and box for safety razor sets and the like, comprising rectangular tray and cover sections having mating and contacting longitudinal walls oppositely internally beveled in spaced intermediate areas, and provided between said beveled areas with interlocking rib and channel connections, and flexible hinge members secured to the inner surfaces of the mating walls including the beveled areas in position to bridge the beveled areas of the walls.

7. A convertible display case and box as described in claim 6, further characterized in that the flexible hinge members have aligned fold vertices located in approximately the plane of contact of the mating Walls of the closed case sections.

8. A convertible display case and box comprising tray and cover sections having mating upstanding walls oppositely beveled in at least one area, said walls having peripheral interlocking rib and groove connections, a

flexible hinge member enclosing and folded upon each of said at least one area and providing a hinge axis for the sections coincident with their aligned fold vertices, in combination with a frame having walls embracing opposite walls of the case sections in their open relation and a transparent body located in a plane above the fold vertices of the hinges connecting the mating walls of the case sections.

9. A convertible display case and box for safety razor sets or the like, comprising rectangular tray and cover sections having rear walls of similar shape constructed and arranged to lie side-by-side in unyielding contact, means hinging said tray and cover together, cooperating latching means on the front Walls of said tray and cover sections, and a transparent frame overlying and enclosing the opened sections of the case and holding them in that position with the contents of the case in full view, said frame having means cooperating with the latching means on said tray and cover sections to keep it securely in place.

10. A convertible display case and box for safety razor sets or the like, comprising rectangular tray and cover sections having rear walls of similar shape constructed and arranged to lie side-by-side in unyielding contact and being hinged together, said tray and cover having cooperating latching means in their front walls, and a transparent cover frame overlying and enclosing the opened sections of the case and holding them in that position with the contents of the case in full view, the cover frame having front and side walls abutting the front wall of said tray section and the aligned end walls of the tray and cover sections, and a rear wall extending in overlapping relation with the front wall of the said cover section, said front and rear walls of said cover frame having latching means cooperating, respectively, with the latching means on the front walls of the tray and cover sections.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,260,197 3/1918 Holden et al. 22944 2,205,969 6/1940 Boenecke. 2203l X 3,048,806 8/1962 Heidler 16-150 X 3,186,574 6/1965 Davidson 217- MARTHA L. RICE, Primary Examiner. 

